Number of additional tires that failed within 30 days or 1,000 miles: 4 or more.

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Number of additional tires that failed within 12 months or 12,000 miles of the original incident: 1. Note: Please, select only one “number of additional tires, within 12 months or 12,000 miles” response.

Cost of roadside assistance, towing, etc. due to tire failure: $0 Note: Please, include costs reimbursed by insurance. However, do not include tires, wheels, etc. Also, please select only one “cost of roadside assistance...” response.

Note: The information below is re-posted on the behalf of AirForums member "Gecko".

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Our home base is Los Angeles. We take two large trips each year-the first to South Texas, through AZ and NM, and the second northbound, with first stop in NoCal and second in Hood River, OR. Here we can see extreme temps in late summer, but not usually more than high 90's, and we see 7% grades all the time. TV was a 2500 Suburban, replaced with a 3500 Sprinter. We use the same Equalizr 4 pt with both vehicles. We have a heavy tongue weight due to 4 large AGM batteries--two in the original position, built up 1/2 inch to accommodate, and the other two on the left side forward under couch near inverter and circuit breakers on our 28' International 2009.

Incident #1
TV Suburban, Goodyear marathon, front left, 65 psi recommended and maintained, new from dealer, not sure of balance method. 3.5 years of use (was going to replace in two months along with the whole set of originals and spare). Interstates, highways, back roads, and very little off road--dirt roads primarily, for distances under 1/2 mile. Stored on asphalt in winter. Approx mileage at time of failure--25K. Complete tread separation, no damage to Airstream (phew!), Autoclub so free roadside service. All tires replaced at nearby Les Schwab (Bend, OR) with their 10 ply Towmax as that was the best they had in stock. (Had requested Michelins, relatively ignorant, didn't know we'd need 16" wheels.")

2nd incident
Towmark, again left front. (Suspecting heavy battery weight now.) When pulling out of gas station, my wife noticed a bubble in the sidewall near tread in her side view. Fortunately, there was a tire place next door who changed it our for us before blowout, and a Les Schwab about 20 miles away. 80 psi max, ran at about 75 psi. 2 years old, about 14K miles. They warranteed, and also warranted another tire that they said was problematic (don't remember where it was). Total cost about $100. No damage, of course.

Currently thinking about (a) relocating batteries and (b) possibly changing up to 16" and Michelins for added safety, too.

Your thoughts would be appreciated, as well as any recommendation for a reputable source in Southern California for new wheels and tires. We do need to do something about our tongue weight. I am concerned that moving all four batteries aft (under the foot of our bed) will use up our little storage space and while taking 320 lbs off the front of the trailer, will move the same 320 for more trailer sway--effectively a 640 lb shift!

Our current tongue weight was measured by dealer last year at 1260 lbs, which is clearly over the 1095 15% max, so a 320lb shift aft should be OK for trailer sway while obviously taking load off the hitch, load leveling, and front trailer tires, particularly the left side with the extra weight there.

Suggestions?

First, weigh the trailer. I suspect that already has been done. I recommend that the load on the tires be no more than 85% of the load carrying capacity of the tire (accounting for side to side and front to rear load variation AND the inflation pressure actually in use.)

Second, speed isn't mentioned. If towing faster than 65 mph, then the load on the tires needs to be reduced even further beyond the 85% I recommended.

I have weighed both our 25FB and our 31' Classic on my individual wheel scales.

In the 25FB situation, the right rear weight was 200 pounds heavier that the others. I chatted with another chap in Texas and his 25FB "eats" right rear tires quicker than the others. We wondered why this was a common trait.

The Classic before our modifications had a similar weighing situation.

From hours of reading this forum before buying the first Airstream and especially the tire related threads, we converted the 25FB to the Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tires as soon as we got her home and ran 44 psi in the tires. We had a derated 7,940 pounds of tire load capacity attached to the two 3,700 pound load rated each axles. Crossing the scales when loaded for camping, the trailer axles were carrying 5,860 pounds. We had plenty of reserve tire load capacity.

The "images" under my avatar show photos of the stock GYM ST225/75R15D tire beside the 15" Michelin tire and the Michelin LT225/75R16/E LTX M/S2 tire we installed on the Classic on the 16" SenDel T03-66655T aluminum wheels (each wheel rated 3,580 pounds at 80 psi). The Classic spare tire is mounted on a galvanized steel SenDel S62-66655TG wheel rated at 3,500 pounds at 80 psi.

The four 16" Michelins have a load rating of 10,720 pounds and are attached to two axles, each rated 5,000 pounds.

The trailers were/are stored under roof and the tires have a cover for sunlight protection. There is a piece of particle board under the tires to keep them off the asphalt. We have the Dill #1506 TPMS system installed to monitor things on the trailer tires.

BTW. When getting the TPMS system installed, make sure the installer notes which sender letter is in each wheel or otherwise there is a major problem getting the right receiver chip in the correct location. We had to break the tires down to get that information and then re-balance them.

Also, as a pre-drive check, use a tire valve tool to be sure the tire valve is fully seated in the valve stem. We have found that the technician did not fully seat one tire valve which created a slow leak.

Other than a road hazard screw in the corned of the tread, we have had no tire issues with our Michelin tires. We are based in the Phoenix area.

Switz, did you weigh at wheel position both with and without WD applied on your scales?

CapriRacer, so if I wish to run 65+ on a Texas summer day I ought to aim at 80% or less of rated capacity given full sidewall pressure?

Is there a relation also to the tires on the truck doing the towing?

I tend to think of this the other way - that the tire's load carrying capacity ought to be no less than 115% of the max load on an individual tire.

And yes, that applies to the tow vehicle as well. I think you will see (if you do the math), that the tow vehicle manufacturer has already sized the tires that way - so usually the tow vehicle isn't a problem. Trailers on the other hand ........

TowMax failure on the way to the balloon festival in 2014. Two front tires were little older than the rears. The rears were wearing faster than the fronts. Axel weights were very close to the same. Now I rotate the tires every 5K miles. I'm saving for 16" rims and Michelins.

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The ability to follow instructions is highly underrated.

TowMax failure on the way to the balloon festival in 2014. Two front tires were little older than the rears. The rears were wearing faster than the fronts. Axel weights were very close to the same. Now I rotate the tires every 5K miles. I'm saving for 16" rims and Michelins.

An observation on this "poll" from a tire engineer experienced in failed tire forensics.

Most of the "reasons" for failure are in fact an approximation of the condition of a tire and should not be considered an indication of "why" the tire failed.

In problem analysis, if you do not understand the real reason for the "why" then in all probability you will not take the appropriate or necessary corrective action to prevent or at least decrease the chances of a recurrence.

Now this doesn't make the poll has no value, but it is important that everyone keeps in mind that using the results to make some decisions is like asking the guy parked next to you in the campground the best thing to do to avoid having a 2nd heart attack.

An observation on this "poll" from a tire engineer experienced in failed tire forensics.

Most of the "reasons" for failure are in fact an approximation of the condition of a tire and should not be considered an indication of "why" the tire failed.

In problem analysis, if you do not understand the real reason for the "why" then in all probability you will not take the appropriate or necessary corrective action to prevent or at least decrease the chances of a recurrence.

Now this doesn't make the poll has no value, but it is important that everyone keeps in mind that using the results to make some decisions is like asking the guy parked next to you in the campground the best thing to do to avoid having a 2nd heart attack.

Yes. You will see the result, but maybe not the cause. And there may be more than one cause, for ex., hit a rock, but the tread was going to slip sometime in the future if you didn't hit the rock. Not sure that's the best analogy.

My tire failed in the fall of 2011 as we were returning from the Rally at PTown, aprox Oct 14th. I had never had a blow out before and was quite supprised how much my Airstream shook. I took pictures and hope I can post them on here.

Looks like Run Low Flex failure as covered in the July 22, 2012 post on my RV tire Safety Blog.